


The Curious Case of Byleth and Byleth

by iroiroriro



Series: Sunny days at Garreg Mach [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Nothing Bad Happens, Alternate Universe - Twins, Byleth has two hands but Seteth and Jeritza doesn't notice that yet, Everybody is here, F/F, F/M, Fanart, Female My Unit | Byleth, Friendship, Fun, Graphic Novel, M/M, Male My Unit | Byleth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-01-13 15:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21157427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iroiroriro/pseuds/iroiroriro
Summary: After 20 years, Jeralt returns to the monastery with his two...threechildren in tow: stone-faced mercenary twins following his every step like emotionless machinery awaiting orders and a proud, tiny girl that runs around barefooted.Alt Title:🎶The Daily Lives of The Young Eisners in Garreg Maaaaaaaaaach🎶Alt Title 2: Electric Boogaloo:Sothis is a little shit and Seteth gets stressed.





	1. Hello!

**Author's Note:**

> **NOTE: This fic is best read on mobile. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! I know that F!Byleth's canon name is Byless (courtesy of her default name on the JP game being ベレス as opposed to M!Byleth's ベレト) but I just _don't like_ how Byless sounds like! I'm very sorry!!  

> 
> <s>Does it have something to do with it being similar sounding with the word 'burlesque' when said in my native language? Yes. Yes, it does.</s>
> 
>   
Also, I kinda gave them personality! Ain't that great!  
If ya'll haven't heard of [AmaLee's The Musician](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id83LQcF7dY) cover, please give it a listen some time! I loosely based the twins on it so yeah!

🔆🔅🔅☀🔅🔅🔆

🔆🔅🔅☀🔅🔅🔆

Seteth tries his best not to glare at Jeralt the Blade Breaker's older children as Rhea welcomes them in the monastery with open arms, the small mercenary party getting dragged by Alois after an encounter with bandits. He's heard of Jeralt's exploits back when he was still a knight of Seiros and deduces that, yes, Rhea might have a good reason to want him back-

But to have his twin children as Professors? He doesn't think so.

He's heard of them too, the _Ashen Demons-_ fearsome and unflinching, trudging forward as blood and carnage spills around them. To think she'll find it perfectly alright to have such people around the students.

"Where else to learn best about fighting but from those who live everyday through it?" Rhea told him earlier beforehand and he finds there's nothing he can do now that she has decided. He lets out an exhale as he eyes the twins, faces cold and blank as the Archbishop offers them a job that they're probably not qualified to do.

Jeralt looks over the twins as the two turn to look at the other, having a full conversation in complete silence, blank eyes fixed on each other's sapphire ones. Seteth wonders if they have some sort of magical connection that allows this or if they simply can read each other that well.

"Oh, I have almost forgotten. May I ask what the boy's name is? I believe you've only told me of the girl's," Rhea says and Jeralt tilts his head at her. "Byleth," he replies.

Byleth. The name of the female twin-

-And _also_ the name of the male twin, as they now just found out.

"I'm just not good at thinking of names," Jeralt reasons, which absolutely does not make for a good reason to name **_twins_** the exact same name. "How happy I am to not have Byleth as my name too," a voice says from behind the twins.

A third child appears, Jeralt's youngest, feisty and filled with arrogance despite her tiny size.

Seteth sees something pass over Rhea's features when she sets her sight on the child but it's gone in an instant. "Hello, little one. And you are?" The Archbishop asks and the little gremlin puffs her chest out. "Sothi- ..._Sophie_," she says, stumbling with her words despite the bravado. The female Byleth huffs out a breath from her nose, making the smallest one scrunch up her face and color.

That must be her equivalent of a laugh- the female Byleth shows a little bit more emotion than the male one, Seteth deduces. The male Byleth stares blankly ahead as the conversation continues forward, looking at somewhere far away and nothing in particular. From what has been reported to him, the female Byleth saved Edelgard von Hresvelg, the Black Eagle's house leader, from certain doom. What did her brother do then?

Flayn comes by and marvels at how the twins have the same name, asking them how they know which one of them their father is calling or ordering and other curious questions- the two never really answered, Sophie piping out to say something like "Because they're amazing just like that! You wouldn't know," or similar phrases.

By the end of the day, the female Byleth gets the nickname of 'Bea', courtesy of Flayn. Byleth, the male one, simply looks on ahead,

uncaring.

Something about it irks Seteth to no end.

☀

It didn't come as a surprise that Bea would choose the Black Eagles. Edelgard's smile has been shinier than diamond upon the discovery, relief making her glow bright. Hubert doesn't miss the small tilt on the edges of the new Professor's eyes- what the Vestra now labels as her own version of a smile.

Hubert doesn't trust the twins one bit.

To be honest, Hubert doesn't trust their _whole_ family one bit.

They're too aloof, too _mysterious_. To think his hidden spies spread all over Fódlan could not find even a shred of personal information about the two other than their birthdays and them being the 'Ashen Demons'- not to mention that all three of the siblings have the same birth date- their situation is all too suspicious.

The reappointed Captain said that their mother died upon giving birth- what does that make of the youngest one then? Adopted? A daughter from a different woman? How come his eyes and ears in the shadows couldn't find any clue of this _other woman's _existence then? Like Hubert said, they are all too shady to be trusted.

The Vestra isn't blind though, he sees his lady's... _slight_ infatuation towards the older twin, the one whom Flayn nicknamed _Bea_. He couldn't bring himself to stomp on her heart by chastising her or telling her about his distrust either- his resolve crumbling everytime he sees the sparkle in his liege's eyes, her usual calm demeanor breaking from just a mere mention of Professor Byleth.

So, instead, he helped Edelgard try to understand their professor better for some time. Not only will the lady get what she wants, Hubert will be able to know more information about her too. Win-win.

Memorizing the little quirks and tilts of her features is easier said than done, however. Most of the time, they are almost not even there. It makes the twins' entirely silent conversations feel all the more impressive rather than odd once you find out how they do it.

Learning this thing the twins have- no, _their whole family_ has, since it appears their father and little sister can completely understand their silent communication despite not being able to do so themselves- feels like learning a whole new language on its own. Hubert finds himself slowly getting adept in its fluency but, proud as he is of this feat, he can't help but feel disappointed.

He thought that learning this little language the twins have will make him privy of vital information... but it seems that is not the case.

Edelgard tries her best to follow their voiceless conversations during mealtimes, Hubert informing her of the Professor's newly discovered tells that she might have missed sometimes. From there, their seemingly blank staring and blinking during breaks unravel themselves to be boring stories of what happened to the other that day mixed with the occasional sharing of errands.

It's harder to understand the younger brother's tells due to his little tilts and quirks being more subtle- almost nonexistent, really. If this were a spoken language, it would be as if he's whispering most of the time.

In the end, the twins are just... Mundane. _Incredibly_ mundane. To a fault, even.

They're the perfect personifications of a bland scone that was accidentally dunk into a glass of water.

Hubert is starting to think that all the effort he put into this is for naught when Edelgard gets into a debate with- _who else-_ Ferdinand.

It had simply started with a question about tactics and war: "If you're losing a battle, would it be more noble to retreat your forces or fight until the very end?"

Ferdinand, ever the fairytale noble with his head stuck in fables, chooses the latter and starts with a seemingly headache inducing argument with the Hresvelg- _whose case is perfectly better and more logical, by the way._ It makes Hubert push down the clawing desire to pulverize the Aegir right where he's standing.

Professor Bea walks by and stops right beside them then, blinking. They both turn to her and explain their cases. The professor tilts her head to Edelgard's direction.

"Exactly!" The silver-haired noble exclaims, making Ferdinand jump a little. Edelgard's incoming migraine disappears as she explains her reasoning to the Professor, replying to her questions and elaborating when she asks her to.

Satisfied, the Professor nods to herself before glancing at Ferdinand. "Yes, I believe so," Edelgard nods and gives Ferdinand a look. "I... I'm afraid I... What just happened?" Ferdinand looks to and from the ladies in-front of him in confusion.

The look on Lady Edelgard's face upon the realization that she had a full elaborate conversation with the professor without the other uttering a word makes Hubert feel... triumphant. His chest has never felt lighter, that is.

He doesn't know if he should strangle Ferdinand or thank him_\- which he will never do, by the way; he'd rather choke on his own poison_\- so he decides to do a mix of both, offering him a scone before _'accidentally'_ dropping it into the Aegir's tea.

🍵

Byleth- the younger brother, as Sophie keeps informing the whole monastery despite not being asked- didn't choose a house of his own. He'd only hold lessons about swordsmanship and numerous other weapons when asked. Felix, Caspar and a bunch of other students love it though so everybody thinks it's fine to keep him as a 'Professor' that way- even though a similar title is already occupied by Jeritza.

Having an extra helping hand for errands around the monastery isn't bad too, some staff supposes. You won't see anyone more diligent with completing errands than him. Other than fighting though, it seems that the younger Byleth learns more compared to the amount he teaches.

Annette sees it firsthand when she asks Professor Byleth if **_she_** wants to join her bake pastries with Mercedes. The professor nods in affirmation and shows up with her twin in tow, making the small student realize that she might have thought that 'Byleth' referred to the both of them. It made her wonder what their father was thinking giving them the same name and how they know which of them the Captain was calling over despite him saying just 'Byleth'. Is there magic involved in it? Is there something about the way he says it?? They might never know.

In other news, baking with the twins is a disaster.

There are a number of times where the two would freeze up and stare at the other before butchering a measurement. Sometimes they just butcher the dough themselves without looking at the other for some coaching. In the end, the pastries have turned themselves into paperweights and deadly concoctions once they're released from their hell of an oven prison.

Mercedes tells them afterwards that it's alright and that they'll get it right next time but it seems the younger twin doesn't mind the results at all, gazing at the culinary disaster they've produced in awe- a child-like curiosity twinkling in his eyes as opposed to the blank face his sister is wearing, only broken by a defeated huff from her nose. Annette thinks she might have hallucinated the expression on the male Byleth's face for when she wipes her eyes and looks back, it's gone.

Mercedes ends up apologizing to the Black Eagles later, along with Captain Jeralt, Sophie, Cyril and a few other professors- _plus Lady Rhea herself_\- when she discovers that the hellborne pastries were distributed among them.

Lady Rhea finds it funny, with as much grace as she can laugh out loud, while Seteth doesn't- silently fuming beside her while chewing the same piece of bread for a little over three minutes now as he glares at the younger twin sipping his tea from across the table.

🍞❔

The early morning is nice and cool, the dawn welcoming everything in her open arms and blissfully waking the rest of the world as the sun rises with them.

**"Sophie, won't you put some shoes on?!" **

The morning silence is cut by Seteth's exasperated voice booming in the halls followed by the sound of Cyril's running. The boy has a pair of sandals in either hand as the Byleths' tiny little sister dashes across the monastery in inhumane speeds like the little goblin she is.

"You don't tell me what to do!" She shouts back, almost making Ignatz fall over as she and Cyril circles around him, the youngest Eisner pulling on the poor student's pants and using him as a makeshift shield.

The sound of their havoc attracts some knights' attention, one of those being an armoured lady with a proud stride. "Well, isn't this quite a commotion! And so early in the morning too," the blonde knight approaches and shakes her head. Cyril gasps, jolting up straight. "T-that's Thunder Catherine!"

"Thunder Catherine?"

Sophie whips her head around and narrows her eyes before she gives the taller woman a shit-eating grin. "_Thunder_, huh! Do they call you that because you're as fast as thunder? I bet you can't catch me!" She dramatically stands on a fence and puts her hands on her waist, laughing theatrically.

...Isn't it supposed to be 'as fast as _lightning_'? Catherine blinks. This is quite an odd reaction- she's used to children getting scared of the very name 'Thunder Catherine', not getting pumped up for a challenge. And to receive it from such a tiny girl too... She can't help but huff and shake her head in amusement, giving the small child a lop-sided grin.

"Bet I can," and with that, Sophie dashes off with a high-pitched laugh, the knight following after her with Cyril in tow.

It was all fun and games until it drags on for too long and Catherine finds herself slowly getting frustrated, sweat dripping under her armor and gravity slowing her legs and pulling her down. Sophie proves herself to be more agile than she looks, slipping under bushes and popping out of the other side in insane speeds and hopping over tables and chairs as if she weighs nothing- well, with the size of her body, she probably does.

Catherine feels her jaw almost drop when she corners the kid by the gates and she effortlessly wall runs above the gatekeeper's head, landing a couple of meters away from the stunned guard with a roll to break her fall before dashing off as if what she did was a normal hop. The two knights glance at each other in shock for half a second before Catherine sets off again, ordering Cyril to meet her from the other side when she notices which direction the little one plans to run off to.

Sophie enters the dining hall, just as Catherine predicted, and Flayn jolts upon seeing her.

"Sophie! You still don't have shoes on? Did my brother forget to give you a pair?" As if on cue, Cyril skids to a halt under the other entrance of the dining hall, sandals in hand and breathing heavily.

The sound of Catherine's heavy steps stop under the entrance Sophie came in from as she points at the child. "You. We've got you cornered. Surrender now," she says in between pants, not sounding entirely convincing.

The youngest Eisner looks around and grins, eyes meeting Ignatz' as he freezes midway from taking a bite of his breakfast egg.

"Never."

Ignatz yelps and scurries out of his seat as the students around him jolt. Lysithea abruptly stands up with a squeak when she feels Sophie's hair ghost against her leg from under the table, sending her chair falling backwards and blocking Cyril's way towards the tiny Eisner, the boy almost tripping over it if not for Claude yanking him back by the scruff of his shirt.

"Woah, woah, woah! Easy there, what's all this about?" Claude's voice goes unnoticed over the now chaotic commotion. Lorenz shrieks and falls sidewards off of his chair when Sophie unceremoniously crawls between his legs, hopping up and leaping to Ignatz whom she catches by the strap of his bag.

In an amazing feat of power, Sophie pulls and switches places with him to block Catherine, the knight immediately putting her hands up to avoid accidentally hitting the cowering boy. "Why is it always me?!" Ignatz complains to the girl as he's twirled around dizziyingly while the blonde knight tries to reach around him to get to her, sending them chasing each other around in circles with Ignatz squirming in the middle.

"Little Sophie, behave! Do you want me to tell this to Captain Jeralt?!" Leonie slams her hands on the table and Sophie ignores it as she drags Ignatz around.

At that moment, Jeralt steps into the dining hall.

Some eyes immediately dart to him, wanting resolution, but all he did is take a look at the mess, close his eyes with a heavy sigh and promptly turn around with a "That's not my problem,"- leaving a proudly cackling Sophie who taunts Catherine by pushing and pulling Ignatz like a ragdoll, similar to a toy getting swung at a cat's face.

"Hey! Don't be like that, what if he heaves out the food he just ate? That won't feel good, it would make him sick!" Raphael worriedly says as he gets a secure hold on Ignatz and lifts him up and away from Sophie's reach, leaving the little girl open.

Ashe, who was just watching the chase in the corner, coughs while drinking his tea and proceeds to pat Annette's arm to get her attention. "It's like that one scene from that lion novel you lent me!" He points and the smaller girl almost chokes on the food she was still chewing, slapping Ashe's shoulder as Mercedes pours some water into her cup.

Sophie gasps when Catherine almost grabs her, the knight narrowly missing her arm. The little goblin steps to the right only to pivot her foot around for a crossover, launching herself to a sprint to the left and making Catherine's legs stagger.

Her calves hit one another and she falls to the floor with a yelp, almost taking down Cyril with her when he finally passes the tangle of fallen chairs and pushed tables, courtesy of the people trying to move away from Thunder Catherine and the elusive demon she's chasing.

Cyril was losing Sophie when another knight, dark-haired and clad in green, abruptly stands up upon receiving a hot mug of coffee from one of the dining ladies.

The nearby students blanch as the knight takes her glass of cold water and proceeds to tilt her head up and drink from both cups at the same time, slamming her hands down after both are emptied, the plates of her half-eaten breakfast bouncing a centimeter off of the table.

"Shamir, what-" Catherine croaks but the knight turns to look at Sophie instead of the woman on the floor. Her glare sends a chill down Sophie's spine and, after two beats, the little Eisner proceeds to whip around and dash away.

She doesn't have to look back- the loud sound of heels clacking against asphalt a couple feet behind her already makes everybody scramble to make way.

Sophie runs for dear life- she doesn't think she's ever ran as fast before.

The weight of her mischief claws the air on her back, personified as a knight who just downed a watered-down glass of black coffee, resolute to teach her why it's not good to cause havoc so early in the morning when not-morning-people exist.

Shamir succeeds.

The evil has been defeated, finally, and Sophie gets a pair of sandals under her feet.

The fact that she can barely walk properly without its uneven clacks, making her unable to run around and cause more mischief, is simply an added bonus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter! I hope you had fun because there's more to go!
> 
> And, as you can see, there will be a little bit of ooc-ness here and there because I just want good things for everybody and I simply wish for them to have fun
> 
> Also I want them to graduate normally


	2. Have You Eaten Yet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...This is fine." - Jeritza von Hrym
> 
> Also, Sothis can't go in the dining hall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey ya'll, this took so long cuz the Jeritza DLC came out and, since I wrote some of these chapters long before that, I've discovered that I've** written his character so wrong** absbfnjfnfn
> 
> I reworked on this one and gave some of his lines to other characters instead 'cuz I don't want to stray from the fic's original plot but still... he might go _a little bit_ ooc as we go on
> 
> also, he needs friends ya'll  
give the poor man some friends

Teaching and mingling with the students, little by little, is starting to give Bea's face some life, everybody notices. Despite small, her smile is there, making some people stop in their tracks to stare in shock whenever she breaks into one. Sylvain almost trips on his own feet the first time he sees it.

Byleth, on the other hand, has stayed exactly the same.

Even Felix, whom he has mysteriously befriended through sparring, commented on it.

"You're lifeless as a plank."

Felix- _**THE**__** Felix**-_ of all people, suddenly speaks out as Jeritza steps towards the professor mid lunge.

Byleth blocks effortlessly- a little _too_ effortlessly for Jeritza's liking. Probably because the question took the professor by surprise so he missed putting some acting into it. The smaller professor steps back as he turns to Felix, Jeritza eyeing the student who took his sparring partner's attention with a scathing glance.

"That. Exactly," Felix points out from the side. "Which one of them?" Raphael asks, confused. "I was going to say that it's probably Professor Byleth but now that you say it like that..." Ingrid frowns, tapping her chin with her finger in thought as she shrugs Sylvain's hand from her shoulder for the nth time.

Caspar pipes up to defend the professors. "What's wrong about that? I think it's cool! And the enemy would never know what they're thinking!"

Felix rolls his eyes and huffs. "Neither will allies," Sylvain, who was minding his own business and totally not annoying Ingrid at all, whips around to look at Felix as if he's grown a second head. "...Are you sick? Did you eat something bad? Guys, did you all hear that?" He looks around but he gets ignored as the attention zeroes in on Professor Byleth.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Leonie walks over him and gives his face a look over. "Sometimes, one-upping you doesn't feel like winning at all! It's like you simply do it on purpose instead of us actually working for it," the students around them nod at that. Byleth blinks at the statement. Jeritza hums under his breath, lifting a hand to rest his chin on it.

It's actually the truth- although he didn't expect to hear such an observation from Leonie, of all people. Byleth's strength greatly varies depending on who he's sparring with and, what the students don't realize, is that he always silently teaches them _something_ that they never knew before. Once they get a gist of it, Byleth would purposely reveal an opening, fake a loss, and then praise them for it- putting the move or technique in the back of their minds to pull out in a pinch in future fights.

To act like such and never get noticed until now only attests to the professor's great skill, although, Jeritza knows that Byleth would never tell the students about this- most likely to keep their motivation up. Why he doesn't just teach normally like his sister does is beyond him.

Leonie, ever bold, proceeds to mush Byleth's cheeks between her fingers.

Felix barks out a cough-laugh, surprising even himself, as Jeritza frowns, casually taking steps back and away from the students as they gather around the other professor, putting their sparring to a halt.

Byleth simply blinks and looks at Jeritza as the man rests his side against a pillar. The blonde man supposes its a call for help. Jeritza ignores it and simply watches as the other professor drowns in the attention, crossing his arms as he waits for the commotion to die down. Can't the students take their antics elsewhere? This is the **training** grounds. A place for **training**\- not frolicking.

"If you were frowning or grimacing right now, your students will most likely stop," the instructor drawls before raising an eyebrow, unseen under his mask as Leonie turns to look at him with a wide grin.

When did the students started gathering around the two men whenever they sparred, he wonders? It all happened too quickly for him to notice- or maybe his eyes were just too focused on certain azure ones to see the group that slowly, steadily grew around them as days went on.

He's never one for crowds. Never will be... but-

-He _may_ not mind. As long as they stay several meters away from him at all times, that is. Five meters minimum.

"You're one to talk, Professor Jeritza! You barely move your face either," Leonie huffs, almost painfully pinching Byleth's cheek to make a point.

Byleth doesn't even wince.

The fiesty student, giving up on trying to get a reaction from the blank-faced professor, turns her attention to Jeritza instead.

She gives the blonde instructor a mischievous look as she approaches, hands doing grabbing motions. Caspar goads her on with a laugh that sounds _exactly_ the same as the sound when someone wipes the monastery windows clean- all while clapping like a seal.

Jeritza would like to take his earlier statement back. Just Byleth is enough.

"I move it enough for people to know when I'm about to chop a hand off," he warns. Leonie freezes midway from walking to him, blanching and retreating back to the much 'safer' instructor with a sheepish face, giving him an appreciative pat on the shoulder. "He won't actually do that... right?" Ashe, who has been quietly checking arrows in the corner, gives Petra a worried look. "I am afraid to be unknowing of the answer," she replies with a shake of her head.

"Ah, well, at least he'll warn people! Professor barely speaks!!" Caspar waves his hands towards Byleth's direction.

The students chatter about whether or not Byleth would _actually_ warn someone before cutting them down, taking some of the knights' attention as they gather around their Professor, leading to them talking and asking about the twins' mercenary days.

Jeritza figures he can just slip away now without anyone noticing and tries to do just that. 

_Tries to_, that is.

He was about to leave when a look from Byleth keeps him in place, cementing his feet on the asphalt.

Said man doesn't know how Byleth does it but he can almost hear his voice calling out just from those eyes alone despite the professor staying soundless.

He'll humor him today just because of how pitiful he looks. There will be no next time.

"I know some ladies are into the _silent and mysterious_ types but you're taking it a li'l bit too far, Teach," Sylvain decides to muss the professor's hair then, earning a hard slap on his hand from Ingrid as she fusses to comb Byleth's now messy hair back into place. Felix gives Sylvain an eyeroll when the tall redhead rubs the spot Ingrid hit, making an exaggerated pout before bumping the smaller noble's side to ask for his support- except he did it a little _too _hard. Felix, in retaliation, kicks his ankle because he's Felix, _accidentally_ hitting his Achilles.

...Or maybe purposely. Who knows? Felix is Felix and that's just how Felix do.

The redhead yelps a "Yeowch!", jumping a whole two feet off of the ground and making the other students laugh as he hops away trying to lift his leg up and rub his ankle but falling off balance everytime, needing to come back to hold Felix's shoulder to steady himself with his lower lip jutted out.

The Professor was pulled away from the students later due to a summon from Seteth and the students' attention turn to trying to find Jeritza who has mysteriously disappeared once the other professor has left.

🗡💬

Sophie is hungry.

It's well into the afternoon and the last thing she ate was breakfast, courtesy of Raphael letting her hide behind him when one of the Knights of Seiros tried to chase her to give her a change of clothes.

The uniform-like monastery clothes Flayn wears look too stuffy to be comfortable so she'd rather not, thank you. Seteth's probably just strapping some added weight on her so that she can be easier to catch anyways.

Raphael gave her one of the sandwiches he's planning to eat before they parted ways earlier. Sophie thinks there's too much meat in it and barely any vegetables but it's still pretty good. Ignatz should take notes, he needs some meat on his bones.

Sophie eyes the dining hall entrance. She can't go in alone, she's kind of been... well...

Soft-banned?

_Damning._

She can't go in without _someone_ to supervise her and keep her under control which pretty much means she can only go in if she's with Jeralt- who is currently busy with the knights, Sister Byleth- who is in the middle of nagging Hubert and Lindhart to study faith, and Brother Byleth- who's probably off somewhere playing with cats or whatever thing he does these days.

Probably some other trust-worthy individuals are in the invisible list too so that means...

Her go-to plan to terrorize Ignatz won't work. He won't be qualified enough to keep her under control. Flayn would be but the last time she saw her, she was having some sort of weird roaring contest with Raphael so that means, two of her other best possible candidates are out too.

Huh. Who else can she ask?

Claude would be nice to eat with but he seemed busy when he let her play around and draw in his room earlier. Leonie would only want to talk about her _father_ so that's a hard pass. Lorenz would be great but he's still mad at her so that's that.

Oh, why you ask? Because she crawled between his legs <strike>_again_</strike> just the other day and he hasn't forgiven her yet. In her defense, the sound he made the first time she did it was really funny but she was too busy trying to run away from Catherine to truly appreciate it. She just _had_ to hear it again, you know?

Lysithea is responsible enough but the last time she saw her, she was defending the glory of cake against that Felix guy. She knows Hilda and Marianne are both in the greenhouse but Hilda told Seteth that the reason she couldn't go on cleaning duty is because she's sick. Marching to the dining hall with her in tow might tip her off and Sophie doesn't want to do that. Marianne, on the other hand, is just too kind.

Yes, Sophie knows Marianne doesn't deserve the stress she'll most likely give her. Sophie's not entirely apathetic, Sophie can be considerate and sometimes feel bad too. Shut up.

And... there goes the whole of the Golden Deer house. She spends most of her time around them whenever she doesn't feel like running around pissing some knights off, meaning, they're the only ones she can actually consider as friends. It seems there's really no choice but to look for someone in the other houses.

She starts to walk but stops.

The Black Eagles are still in class.

Well that's a problem- she's not really well acquainted with anyone from the Blue Lions so she can't just approach one of them and hope for the best. She'll really have to ask brother Byleth about them sometime- they seem to be the ones to go to the training grounds a lot and some of their names pop up in the stories he tells her when she asks about his day.

She goes back to her earlier position and catches sight of a cat running away with a stolen fish in its mouth.

Her stomach growls.

Okay, maybe it's the time to get desperate.

Can she ask Rhea? Is that allowed? Can she drag Lady Rhea all the way to the dining hall? She seems nice. She let her draw a flower on her arm the other day.

Well... she'd go ask Catherine or Shamir but she hasn't seen them around since this morning so they're probably off fighting bandits or something. Seteth is... well... she'll only ask Seteth over her cold, dead body.

Maybe if she peeks inside the Black Eagles classroom, someone might notice her? Catching Ferdinand's or Petra's attention would be perfect. Caspar will probably volunteer to chaperone her too but she doesn't think the dining ladies will approve of their duo.

Her stomach grumbles again and she feels herself slouching. Ugh, she's hungry.

"Good afternoon. Sophie, was it?" Said girl whips her head around to see none other than the Blue Lions house leader himself along with a much taller classmate. He's got a really gorgeous earring that catches Sophie's eye, reflecting the setting sun's light and twinkling. How pretty! She wants one too!

But forget that for now- there's something more important at hand. Her attention goes back to the house leader as she tries to dig up his name from the stories brother Byleth have told her. "Do you feel unwell? It's quite a rare sight to see you so still and not running arou-"

"**Dimi Dimi!!**"

Dimitri's eyebrows raise as he blinks. Dimi Dimi... Is that him? "I'm- Yes? That's... Me?" He looks completely unsure of himself as he says it. "Yes, that's you! You're Dimi who accidentally broke that spear brother Byleth lent you!" Dimitri sputters as Sophie points at him with a wide grin that spreads from ear to ear.

"He was pouting for hours and I had to conspire with Flayn to cheer him up," the Eisner dramatically says and Dimitri stops. "He... Really?" The blonde student's eyebrows furrow, expression thoughtful as guilt suddenly pools inside his chest. Professor Byleth didn't look that disturbed about it- he even said that it's fine and lent him another one afterwards. Did he really get so upset that he needed cheering up?

"What happened was entirely an accident. We have offered to pay for the damages but he waved us off and told us that it's alright. Are you sure this really happened and you're not just blackmailing His Majesty for us to be under your whims?" The tall student leers down at the tiny Eisner and she just puffs her chest out in return, pouting.

"Now don't be like that to the child, Dedue," Dimitri pats Sophie's head and crouches down. "I apologize for any inconvenience that I have caused you. Is there a way I can pay you back for cheering the professor up?" Sophie practically glows as she nods vehemently.

"Come with me to the dining hall!" 

Dimitri lets out a loud laugh, surprised yet light. "Oh, is that all? You did not need to guilt me so, I would've joined you have you just simply asked," Sophie grabs the noble's hand and tugs at him, getting impatient.

Dimitri lets himself be pulled towards the dining hall, Dedue following just behind him.

Today, Sophie made a new friend! The big guy still eyes her suspiciously but she'll work on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> also, this fic is sylvain bullying hours


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